Two fires raging along Calif.s Central Coast

By MICHEL EULER (AP)

Arriving to a hero\'s welcome in France, Ingrid Betancourt said Friday that she cried a lot during her six years as a prisoner in the Colombian jungle. Today, she said, \"I cry with joy.\"

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife met the French-Colombian politician on the tarmac of an air base southwest of Paris, showering her with hugs, kisses and smiles.

Betancourt, 46, became a cause celebre in France after her abduction in 2002 while campaigning for Colombia\'s presidency. During her captivity by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, supporters around France...

By MICHEL EULER (AP)

\"I cry with joy,\" Ingrid Betancourt said. And she did.

After six years as a hostage in the Colombian jungle, the former Colombian presidential candidate and French citizen flew back to her beloved France to be embraced Friday as an icon by the country that raised her.

A hero\'s welcome _ led by President Nicolas Sarkozy _ greeted Betancourt from the moment she descended from the plane at the Villacoublay air base southwest of Paris. A dual French-Colombian citizen, Betancourt was campaigning for Colombia\'s presidency when she was kidnapped in 2002.

Betancourt, 46,...

By Fernando Vergara (AP)

Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt has arrived in France to a hero\'s welcome after six years in the captivity of leftist rebels in the Colombian jungle.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is meeting the French-Colombian politician at the Villacoublay military air base south of Paris. The welcome is being shown live on French television.

France is to throw Betancourt, her family and supporters a party in the presidential palace Friday.

Betancourt was campaigning for Colombia\'s presidency when she was kidnapped in 2002. Her captivity prompted widespread concern in France, where...

By Fernando Vergara (AP)

Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt has arrived in France to a hero\'s welcome after six years in the captivity of leftist rebels in the Colombian jungle.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is meeting the French-Colombian politician at the Villacoublay military air base south of Paris. The welcome is being shown live on French television.

France is to throw Betancourt, her family and supporters a party in the presidential palace Friday.

Betancourt was campaigning for Colombia\'s presidency when she was kidnapped in 2002. Her captivity prompted widespread concern in France, where...

By Wally Santana (AP)

Hundreds of mainland Chinese tourists _ some in matching pink shirts _ arrived in Taiwan on Friday on the first regular commercial flights in nearly six decades, a historic move aimed at further easing tensions between the old foes.

A China Southern Airlines flight carrying 230 passengers touched down at Taoyuan International Airport in northern Taiwan, and fire trucks shot water at the first plane in a welcome gesture.

\"From today onward, regular commercial flights will replace the rumbling warplanes over the skies of the Taiwan Strait, and relations between the two sides...

By Eduardo Verdugo (AP)

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday that a shake-up in the leadership of his campaign was part of a \"natural evolution\" as the organization becomes more national in scope.

McCain\'s campaign announced Wednesday that top adviser Steve Schmidt would assume a broad portfolio of duties, with nearly full control over message and strategy. Schmidt will report to Rick Davis, who will keep the title of campaign manager but focus on longer term matters like the Republican National Convention and McCain\'s choice of a running mate.

Addressing reporters at the...

By Eduardo Verdugo (AP)

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday that a shake-up in the leadership of his campaign was part of a \"natural evolution\" as the organization becomes more national in scope.

McCain\'s campaign announced Wednesday that top adviser Steve Schmidt would assume a broad portfolio of duties, with nearly full control over message and strategy. Schmidt will report to Rick Davis, who will keep the title of campaign manager but focus on longer term matters like the Republican National Convention and McCain\'s choice of a running mate.

Addressing reporters at the...

By LAURENT GILLIERON (AP)

Saudi Arabia has invited an Israeli rabbi to an interfaith conference in Spain, potentially the first step in wider contacts between the kingdom and Israel, the rabbi told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Rabbi David Rosen said Saudi Arabia called the conference, set for Madrid from July 16-18, to bring world religions together to confront common challenges. Rosen called the invitation \"a historic step for them.\"

But he warned that it might be no more than a Saudi attempt to improve its image and that of Islam in the face of criticism over the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist...

By PIER PAOLO CITO (AP)

The path to sainthood has grown shorter for a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium who ministered to exiled leprosy patients in Hawaii in the 19th century.

Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday was to be presented a document confirming that a modern miracle has been attributed to Father Damien de Veuster.

\"At that point we will have to wait, with patience and prudence for the Vatican\'s communication about the Holy Father\'s action with regard to this document,\" the Rev. Ed Popish, treasurer of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts in Rome, said in an e-mail Wednesday.

The...

By (AP)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that the newly freed Colombian-French hostage Ingrid Betancourt was in \"good health\" and her children would go to see her in Colombia.

Sarkozy urged the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which had held Betancourt for six years, to stop \"this absurd and medieval conflict\" with the Colombian government. He said France was ready to offer asylum to FARC fighters who renounce violence.

Betancourt is a former Colombian presidential candidate, and her long captivity as a dual citizen of France and Colombia had made...

By THIBAULT CAMUS (AP)

For Ingrid Betancourt\'s children, her release Wednesday after being held hostage for six years in the Colombian jungle filled an immeasurable void they had lived with as they grew into adulthood.

Her daughter, Melanie, was breathless as she spoke to reporters in the French presidential palace Wednesday night, her voice trembling with emotion.

\"Merci, merci,\" she said. She was 16 when her mother was seized.

\"It\'s hard to find words,\" her brother Lorenzo Delloye added, his cheeks ruddy with excitement. Lorenzo, who was 13 when she was taken hostage, thanked \"the...

By LM Otero (AP)

John McCain toured Mexico\'s holiest Roman Catholic site and received a blessing from its monsignor Thursday, the final day of a three-day Latin America tour.

The Republican presidential hopeful was meeting later with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, where immigration and trade were to top his agenda. McCain had a similar meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on the first leg of the tour.

McCain began the day at Mexico City\'s famed Basilica de Guadalupe, where he laid a wreath of white roses at the altar and stood atop the Papal balcony. He was accompanied by...

By Gregory Bull (AP)

John McCain has insisted that his trip through Mexico and Colombia was not supposed to be campaign-related. But there have been plenty of political overtones throughout.

The Republican presidential hopeful planned an early morning visit Thursday to Mexico City\'s famed Basilica de Guadalupe before meeting with President Felipe Calderon as he concluded a three-day Latin American visit aimed at promoting free trade in the Western Hemisphere.

The Basilica de Guadalupe is Mexico\'s holiest site for Roman Catholics, and Catholic and Hispanic voters are expected to be key swing...

By Will Powers (AP)

The Archdiocese of Denver says it has agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle 18 claims by people who said they were sexually abused as children by Roman Catholic priests.

Church officials said Tuesday that 16 of the cases were lawsuits and two were claims filed outside the court system.

The archdiocese says the claims involved three priests who have since died.

Archbishop Charles Chaput (SHAP\'-yoo) says the archdiocese has now settled a total of 43 lawsuits or claims involving sexual abuse for a total of $8.2 million. Two lawsuits remain unresolved.

By Channi Anand (AP)

Authorities imposed a curfew in a city in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday to prevent further protests by Hindu nationalists angered that the government revoked a land transfer to a revered Hindu shrine, a senior police officer said.

Jammu-Kashmir, India\'s only Muslim-majority state, has been rocked by violent protests for two weeks, first by Muslims denouncing the land transfer and then by Hindus who learned the decision would be revoked.

On Tuesday, police used live ammunition as supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janta Party threw rocks and clashed with...

By Jae C. Hong (AP)

Taking a page from President Bush, Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday he wants to expand White House efforts to steer social service dollars to religious groups, risking protests in his own party with his latest aggressive reach for voters who usually vote Republican.

Obama contended he is merely stating long-held positions _ surprising to some, he said, after a primary campaign in which he was \"tagged as being on the left.\"

In recent days, with the Democratic nomination in hand and the general election battle with Republican John McCain ahead, Obama has been sounding...

By Mustafa Quraishi (AP)

Authorities reversed a controversial plan to transfer land to a Hindu shrine in Muslim majority Indian-held Kashmir on Tuesday as Muslim and Hindu protesters held massive rallies across the region assailing the state government for its handling of the politically sensitive issue.

The state government\'s decision to revoke the order was an apparent attempt to defuse the tension that fueled nine consecutive days of protests and left four people dead and hundreds more wounded.

Authorities had announced earlier in the week that they would abandon the plan, but they made the...

By Mukhtar Khan (AP)

Indian police fired at Hindu nationalists protesting a government decision to revoke a transfer of land to a revered Hindu shrine in Muslim-majority Indian-held Kashmir, a senior officer said. At least three people were hurt Tuesday.

Police used live ammunition as the supporters of a leading Hindu nationalist party threw rocks and forced shops, businesses and schools to close for a second day in Jammu, a predominantly Hindu area in India\'s mainly Muslim Jammu-Kashmir state, said Kondaveeti Rajendra, the area\'s police chief.

The injured were being treated in a local...

By Heng Sinith (AP)

Thailand has suspended its decision to support Cambodia\'s bid to have an 11th century temple near the Thai border declared a world landmark, the deputy prime minister said Tuesday.

The Cabinet\'s decision came three days after the Administrative Court issued an injunction to temporarily suspend a Cabinet resolution backing Cambodia\'s application to UNESCO for the Preah Vihear temple to be designated a World Heritage Site.

\"The Cabinet agreed to suspend the resolution,\" said Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat. \"The Thai government will inform UNESCO and Cambodia on...

By Dar Yasin (AP)

Police used batons in an attempt to clear protesters from the streets of Indian Kashmir on Monday, the eighth day of rioting against what critics call a government plan to build Hindu settlements in the Muslim-majority region.

But the thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolling the streets in cities across most of Jammu-Kashmir state had little success in damping the protests, with businesses, shops and schools remaining closed.

Prabhakar Tripathi, a spokesman for the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force, said nearly 300 protesters took to the streets in...

By (AP)

To help poor Afghani villagers make money on potatoes instead of opium poppies, Idaho farmer Pat Rowe used a little old technology: root cellars.

The 68-year-old Rowe, whose family raises tubers and wheat on 2,000 acres near American Falls, went to the Central Asian country with a root cellar design common across his home state\'s famous potato country in the 1930s and 1940s.

As part of his work in Bamiyan, located about 100 miles west of Kabul, Rowe said it was important that his potato sheds not be too sophisticated. They had to be built with materials readily available in...

By Dar Yasin (AP)

Thousands of police attempted unsuccessfully to keep people off the streets in Indian Kashmir on Sunday as mass protests continued for a seventh day against what demonstrators charge is a government plan to build Hindu settlements in the Muslim-majority region.

As the unrest deepened Sunday and a 22-year-old protester died, bringing the week\'s death toll to four, police and paramilitary soldiers turned out in full force in Srinagar, the region\'s main city, in an attempt to enforce what amounted to an undeclared curfew.

\"We\'re not allowing anybody to come out on the...

By Bikas Das (AP)

Men wore sparkling saris, women wore rainbow boas and hundreds of people chanted for gay rights in three Indian cities Sunday in the largest display of gay pride in the deeply conservative country where homosexual acts are illegal.

Gay rights supporters took to the streets of Calcutta, Bangalore and New Delhi to call for an end to discrimination and push for acceptance in a society where intolerance is widespread.

\"This is a national coming-out party,\" said Alok Gupta, a lawyer from Mumbai, as he stood among several hundred activists in New Delhi. \"This is a simple thing:...